


Poison

by Avanalae



Category: Batman (Comics)
Genre: Blood and Gore, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Kidnapping, Ra's is a creep, mild though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-02
Updated: 2017-07-02
Packaged: 2018-11-22 14:17:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,242
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11381916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avanalae/pseuds/Avanalae
Summary: He has his mother's eyes. This is a good and a bad thing. Especially when it attracts the wrong kind of attention.





	1. My Mother's Eyes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted September 2014.

He has his mother’s eyes.

No one ever tells him this, but he knows it. Every time he looks in the mirror, he sees a glimpse of her. He hears her still, in his aching heart.

But even his father didn’t understand how much his eyes were like his mother’s.

_

Janet sits in her office, a tiny boy sitting primly on her lap.

“One day, when you mature, your film will fall away and on that day you will experience your first kill.” She cups his cheek with her hand, gently rubbing the corner of his eye with her thumb. “Because that is the only way to know.”

Tim leans into his mother’s touch, “Is there any way to know without killing someone, Mama?”

She hums and runs her thumb over the bridge of his nose. “Only if you feel its absence before you lock eyes with someone, which is very unlikely.”

“Oh…” Tim closes his eyes and the thumb brushes his eyelashes. “What do I do?”

“You’ll know the minute it happens. It will come to you, and you will be able to adjust.” She presses her thumb gently against the closed eye.

_

He found out when he was out as Robin.

As it turns out, the looking through the lenses dulled the effect. So he merely left someone petrified, instead of… Well.

But Robin couldn’t risk showing such a reaction, not with the eyes of Oracle and Batman around.

He finished his patrol without looking at another person once.

He had let himself freak out about it when he was in bed. But he knew, now.

So he closed his eyes and when he next opened them, those around him were safe.

_

A haze. His head feels fuzzy. Where…? Why is it so dark?

There’s a grunt.

“Hood?”

A huff, “Hello to you too, baby bird. We really need to stop meeting like this.”

Meaning: tied up and held ransom.

“Any ideas, Little Red?”

“Only that he’s starting a Robin collection. Maybe he’s planning on killing all of us at once. Since apparently it doesn’t stick if you do it individually.”

“Fuck you, sass master.”

“What is it with the nicknames?”

Jason shrugs as much as the chains allow, “What’s up with you being such a bitch?”

Tim huffs, “You-“

There’s a door slamming and they go still and play dead.

“You sure we got the right ones?”

There are footsteps.

“Yeah, Joker was very specific.”

The steps come closer and closer.

“Alright, well he should be here soon.“

The steps stop right next to them.

There’s a hand on his chin and Tim’s head is jerked up. “What do you think we should do?”

“Just leave ‘em for now. We don’t want to mess this up.”

“Ugh, you’re such a bore.” The hand grips his chin harshly and then his head is being shaken forcefully, “Wakey-wakey, little bird.”

The suddenness forces a grunt from him. He’s released just a roughly and he grimaces.

“What are you doing?” the other one asks.

“Just want to make sure they know the situation they’re in.”

A thud and a loud, forceful exhale of breath inform him of how they chose to “wake” Jason.

“You two have been causing the boss a lot of trouble lately.”

Tim feels the man come near him again. He sighs and licks his lips, mind racing. He can hear Jason breathing, and that’s good.

The hand returns to his chin and his mouth twitches into a sneer.

“Don’t be like that, little bird-“

“Don’t call me that.”

The grip tightens again, “I don’t think you’re in the position to request things, brat.”

“The Joker should be here soon, Tom, let’s go.” Lackey B seems to be the smarter of the two.

“Yeah, yeah, I just want to see something first.”

Suddenly there’s a tugging at his blindfold and Tim bites his lip to hide a smirk.

Thud.

“Tom? What the fuck!” Lackey B runs over when the other lackey falls stiffly to the floor.

He turns to Tim, “What did you d-“

Thud.

Blink.

He looks at Jason, his brow is furrowed and he’s frowning. “Hm.”

“Baby bird?”

“Yeah?” He manipulates his hands until he can grab one of his hidden tools.

Jason is silent for a moment, until Tim’s chains rattle as they fall. “What did you do?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He finishes freeing himself and stands, stretching luxuriously.

Jason grunts disbelievingly.

Tim tugs off his blindfold, “Want some help?”

“Ugh, not when you put it that way.”

Tim’s raised brow is obvious, even with the cowl.

“I’ll get out myself, thanks.”

He shrugs, “Alright.”

As Jason starts getting himself out of his bonds, Tim goes over to secure the two goons. He can feel the burning stare at his back, but he’s certainly not going to bring it up.

_

Damian was the hardest to deal with. He hadn’t minded at first because he’s not oblivious and he was willing to give the kid a chance.

But as things happened… Now he makes sure to never make eye-contact with the child lest he do something he regret.

Well, he’d probably regret it.

Okay, he just didn’t want to deal with the repercussions.

One day, however, things just went too far. He’d had enough. He could handle the slander and violence, but the foolish child dare insult his mother.

He could feel his pupils contract and he saw Damian’s eyes widen before suddenly he fell to the floor.

Shit. Tim runs over and checks the boy’s pulse. It’s there, it’s fine, and he allows himself a single shuddering breath.

Damian ends up fine, waking up after a few hours no worse for wear.

But Tim notices immediately.

The looks the boy gives him. The stares. The obvious conflicting emotions battling on his face.

There’s no more fighting. Dick rejoices but it’s not because they’re getting along.

Tim worries a bit that the boy knows.

_

He probably knows.

“I’ve found out something very interesting, Detective.”

He’s tied up and his eyes are covered by what feels like silk.

“Something very interesting, indeed.”

If Ra’s knows…

He flinches from the touch to his cheek and scowls at the chuckle it brings.

A gentle touch to his eyelids and he hisses. Only his mother ever touched his eyes and this man  _dare_ -!

“Hm.” Ra’s sounds much closer now and Tim realizes he can feel the man’s breath against his cheek. “How I long to see those eyes of yours… but I will work something out.”

Thankfully the man backs off and Tim tries to struggle, but… he feels off. Weak.

Another chuckle and Tim bears his teeth.

“I’m not about to let a creature such as you get away, Timothy. You’ll find that I’ve found a very special drug that will keep you nice and pliant.”

There’s another caress before he pulls away completely, standing from the bed according to the shift of the soft mattress.

“But for now, I have a few things to take care off. I shall be sure not to be too long, dear Timothy.”

He’s gone and it’s too quiet. Tim tries to figure out his bonds but it’s so difficult… His limbs feel disconnected. He’s so tired…

He whispers.

“Mother…”

Darkness envelops him gently.


	2. What's in a Name

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally posted September 2014.

There’s a certain amount of irony in his name.

Drake.

Dragon.

Hm. Dragon indeed.

But the irony lies in that it is his father’s name.

_

Tim licks his lips, blood a sharp tang on his tongue.

He refused to drink. To eat. To consume anything that man places in front of him. It’s been a week now, but that’s alright.

He’s gone without for much longer.

A sigh.

Tim’s mouth twitches into a frown.

“You are being difficult, Timothy.”

Ra’s presses an ice cube to his lips, soothing the split flesh but Tim kept his mouth closed. The ancient man scowls.

“If you do not behave, I shall have to modify the paralytic to make it impossible for you to resist.” Tim glares – not that the man can see his eyes – and hisses near-silently. “It would be such a shame, though. I do not desire a puppet.”

Calloused fingers rub his lips, the ice cube having melted away.

“You’ve never bitten anyone before, have you?” Ra’s question sounds more like a statement and Tim can almost feel his smirk.

His thumb slips into Tim’s mouth, away from the fangs, and presses gently on his tongue.

It’d be so easy to just bite down and-

_

Tim is crying. His sobs are quiet but his tears have already stained his shirt.

He wonders if tears would be enough to wash out the red.

Footsteps… He looks up and through the blur–

“Mama!” he cries, running over to her. She pulls him close, not minding his small hands that clutch at her clothes.

She pets his hair and shushes him, “Hush, baby, everything will be alright.”

“B-But, Mama-!” She presses a long, elegant finger to his lips.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

Tim nods, taking deep breaths so that he might be able to speak more clearly.

He hadn’t meant to, really. But Jerry was being so weird! He didn’t understand why the older boy had been touching him like that, but he didn’t like it and he got scared so he bit him the next time he touched his lips.

First he’d started to swear and looked to be about to hit Tim, but then…

He started convulsing, shaking and trembling. Then his veins started to darken. Then the coughing. Blood spewed from his mouth, splattering against Tim’s face.

At that point, Tim had started hyperventilating. But Jerry’s breaths were becoming wet and hacking. Chunks of… something were coming out with the blood he was coughing up. He fell slowly, crumpling in on himself until he was curled up on the ground in a fetal position.

It took Tim minutes to realize that the silence he was standing in meant only bad things.

“A-Ah-And I tried to wake him up! But h-he wouldn’t!”

At this point, Janet has curled Tim up on her lap, wrapping around him protectively.

“Calm, my darling.” She kisses his forehead, “You don’t need to worry about it. Remember what Mama told you about what happens when be bite?”

“Y-Yes… Oh.” Tim glances at the body, still as stone. “I… I didn’t mean to…”

Janet tucks pitch black hair behind his small ear. “I know, darling. But these things happen. Mama will take care of the mess.” She stands fluidly, keeping her small boy in her arms. “Let’s get you inside. We need to wash that creature’s blood off you,” she practically hisses that word out and Tim tucks his head into the crook of her neck.

_

Ra’s hums, tilting Tim’s head around, “Yes, this will work perfectly.”

Tim bares his teeth at him, his vision fuzzy but he could still make out the figure of the man he hated. He didn’t know how he’d gotten something to block the power of his gaze without obscuring his eyes, but he shouldn’t be too surprised, considering who he was.

The man is so obviously pleased that it sets Tim’s teeth on edge.

“You know, there aren’t many things that can do much against your kind.”

“How fortunate for you to find this, then,” Tim whispers, unable to speak louder due to his self-enforced fast.

He’d been fine for three weeks, but he was slowly starting to feel the effects of his starvation. He knew if he went much longer Ra’s would lose patience and up the drug dosage. But he just…

Tim tries to scoot away from the man, but the chains on his ankle prevent it. His hands aren’t bound anymore, but the delicate bracelets on his wrists feel unnaturally heavy. As does the choker around his neck.

They’re beautiful pieces of jewelry, Tim will acknowledge this. But Tim knows their purpose.

He nearly bites through his lip as dark fingers run across his skin.

“You will give in eventually, Timothy. You cannot deny your nature for much longer.”

“I can sure as hell try.”

_

“Hey, Tim-“

A flash of skin and…

Dick blinks and Tim is fully clothed in front of him.

“Yes?” Tim raises an eyebrow when Dick stands in the doorway with a blank confused look.

“Uh,” Dick blinks, “Oh. I just, uh… Dinner’s ready.”

Tim gives a small smile and nods. “Alright, I’ll be out in a minute.”

“Cool,” Dick says distractedly and closes the door behind himself when he leaves.

Did he… He runs a hand through his hair, feeling helplessly confused.

He could have sworn he’d seen scales. Pale, almost invisible things, along Tim’s shoulder blades.

That’s ridiculous, he thought, shaking his head. If that was real he’d have seen them before.

Dick chuckles at himself. He should get more sleep.

_

Tim sighs, tugging at the… “fabric” over his eyes. It was definitely a magical artifact.

Fuck, he hated magic. What he wasn’t immune to always seemed to work against him.

He sighed again and wondered if the family had noticed his absence.

He’d worked so hard to hide this from them. He knew Bruce would never have let him stay if he’d even suspected.

Well… He runs his tongue over his fangs.

It doesn’t matter anyway.

He’ll defend his nest whether they like it or not.


End file.
